Tom Tancredo and the "r" word
I just listened to CD6 Democratic nominee Bill Winter's new radio spot, "Dateline: South Carolina." The message is unmistakable. Members of the League of the South, the Aryan Brotherhood, the American Nazi Party and the KKK worship Tom Tancredo. These racist ties make Tancredo unfit to represent CD6.
The spot arrived backed up by a raft of paperwork that links Tancredo to lesser-known groups as well, like The Pioneer Fund and the Council of Conservative Citizens, which has referred to African-Americans as "a retrograde species of humanity."
The accompanying press release ends:
[Winter campaign manager Berrick] Abramson concluded, "For too long, Tancredo has been publicly distancing himself from these shameful associations and claiming ignorance of their motives while privately accepting and encouraging their support. But as the depth of this network of hate becomes evident, it is no longer acceptable to dismiss it, as the Congressman's spokesman would have us believe, as 'a few bad apples.'"
Can Tancredo be judged by the company he keeps? At what point does nationalism become racism? Ever since Tancredo supporters posted death threats on the Winter campaign blog (an event covered by TakeBackTheHouse on Daily Kos), I have wondered why Tancredo hasn't done more to discourage his more unhinged supporters.
Tancredo has a right to even the most repugnant of views. But the voters of CD6 deserve to know where their congressman stands.
Tom Tancredo should either specifically and publicly denounce Virginia Abernethy, Barbara Coe, John Tanton, Glenn Spencer and other extremists or resign his seat in Congress.
Listen to Bill Winter's spot for yourself on his website. Read today's live blog with Bill Winter on Daily Kos. See him for yourself on YouTube.
The spot arrived backed up by a raft of paperwork that links Tancredo to lesser-known groups as well, like The Pioneer Fund and the Council of Conservative Citizens, which has referred to African-Americans as "a retrograde species of humanity."
The accompanying press release ends:
[Winter campaign manager Berrick] Abramson concluded, "For too long, Tancredo has been publicly distancing himself from these shameful associations and claiming ignorance of their motives while privately accepting and encouraging their support. But as the depth of this network of hate becomes evident, it is no longer acceptable to dismiss it, as the Congressman's spokesman would have us believe, as 'a few bad apples.'"
Can Tancredo be judged by the company he keeps? At what point does nationalism become racism? Ever since Tancredo supporters posted death threats on the Winter campaign blog (an event covered by TakeBackTheHouse on Daily Kos), I have wondered why Tancredo hasn't done more to discourage his more unhinged supporters.
Tancredo has a right to even the most repugnant of views. But the voters of CD6 deserve to know where their congressman stands.
Tom Tancredo should either specifically and publicly denounce Virginia Abernethy, Barbara Coe, John Tanton, Glenn Spencer and other extremists or resign his seat in Congress.
Listen to Bill Winter's spot for yourself on his website. Read today's live blog with Bill Winter on Daily Kos. See him for yourself on YouTube.
2 Comments:
Cross posted at Square State.
I heard Bill's spot on KBCO radio last night driving down to Denver. I hope agianst hope that this message gets out widely in the coming days. If I had the money, I'd be sure that it gets on TV as well. It's high time (and I hope not too late) that Bill call this man on what he is, or at least with whom he consorts. He cannot be allowed to breeze by this truth.
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